Monday, August 17, 2015
Thursday, August 13, 2015
Sesame Chicken
It's been a little while since I've made a food post and while I was out shopping today I was craving some sesame chicken (rule no. 1 - never go grocery shopping hungry!) so instead of stopping by one of the many Chinese restaurants I pass on the way home I decided to take a shot at making it myself!
After bourbon chicken, sesame chicken is my go to dish at any Chinese place. I chose sesame because it seemed easier, plus I didn't have to buy a bottle of bourbon lol! After reading about ten different recipes for sesame chicken, I headed to the kitchen and went to work.
I used boneless, skinless chicken thighs for this recipe but chicken breasts will work all the same. First trim the fat off and cut the chicken into about 1 inch chunks
In a bowl mix an egg, cornstarch (or flour) and a little salt and pepper
Add the chicken to the egg mixture and mix it so that all the pieces get coated
In another bowl mix some water, soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, brown sugar and rice wine vinegar (or white vinegar)
Then add in minced garlic (powder works too), ginger, sesame seeds and red pepper flakes (optional, I just like spicy foods)
Once the sauce is made fry the chicken with a little oil until it's browned and crispy
When the chicken is done, add the sauce to the pan and let it boil for a few minutes. It wasn't getting thick enough for me, so I ended up mixing a little water and cornstarch in a small container and adding it in but I wrote it into the recipe so you don't have to :)
Let it thicken a little then top with a few chopped green onions and sesame seeds
I served this with steamed broccoli and brown rice. It was a great success for my first time so I'm sure anyone can replicate it. And it only took about 30 minutes to cook. I hope you enjoy this recipe, it's really easy and cheaper (and healthier and less mystery-meat-er) than ordering from the Chinese spot up the road!
Sesame Chicken
Servings 2
15 minutes to prep
15 minutes to cook
2 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 T vegetable oil
1 T cornstarch (or 2 T flour)
1 egg
1 green onion, chopped
1/4 t sesame seeds
A dash of S&P
Sauce
4 T soy sauce
3 T rice wine vinegar (or white vinegar)
2 T water
1 T cornstarch (or 2 T flour)
2 T brown sugar
1 1/2 T toasted sesame oil
1 T sesame seeds
1 t minced garlic
1 t chopped ginger
1 t crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
Directions
1. Trim fat off chicken and cut into one inch chunks
2. Crack egg into a bowl and add cornstarch (or flour) and a little salt and pepper, stir until all clumps have dissolved then add chicken and mix to coat all pieces
3. In a separate bowl combine all sauce ingredients, making sure to dissolve all clumps
4. Heat vegetable oil in a skillet over medium heat. Once hot, remove chicken from egg mixture and add to skillet.
5. Allow the pieces to turn a deep golden brown (about 5-7 minutes) before flipping them over, then repeat on other side
6. Once all chicken is cooked, add sauce to skillet and allow to boil 2-3 minutes or until sauce thickens to desired consistency.
7. Top with chopped green onions and sesame seeds and enjoy!
Apple Stuffed Chicken
Now that it's actually starting to feel like fall here, I'm experimenting with new recipes using fall fruits like pears and apples. I chose the latter for this dish because in my searching I found pears are most often paired with pork! I'm more of a poultry eater so I had to bring out (you guessed it!) the boneless skinless chicken breasts.
I really enjoyed making this, mostly because I was snacking on the leftover cheese and apples the whole time! But also because it's one of those it-looks-like-it-was-difficult-and-took-forever dishes so it's perfect for the holidays, date nights or special occasions.
And the stuffing ingredients can always be swapped out for different tastes, if you don't have (or don't like) apples try broccoli and cheese or spinach and feta or even pepperoni, mozzarella and tomato sauce! The best thing about chicken is it rarely meets a food it doesn't like! Anywho, I think it took me about an hour to finish cooking but I was stopping for pictures and simultaneously making pasta salad, so the actual cook time is probably around 30-45 minutes. Now on to the good stuff..
So to get started I made my stuffing with about 1/2 cup of cheddar cheese and half of a large honeycrisp apple but any apple should work
I made up a little spice/seasoning mix using various ingredients then added all but about a tablespoon to the apple mixture
Next I butterflied my chicken breasts and topped each piece some of the stuffing
When folding the meat over, I like to try to tuck one flap under the other and use toothpicks to secure it, but the danger with this is once the chicken is cooked, it's swollen so it can be hard to find the toothpicks until you cut or bite into it 😖
Next I rolled each piece in a breadcrumb mixture before adding it to the skillet seam side down. You can skip the breading if you're watching calories and it'll still come out great
I let chicken cook seam side about 5 minutes on each side then I put it in the oven for another 10-15 minutes
Since I was using a cast iron skillet I just stuck it in the oven. If you're not using an oven safe skillet, line a baking dish with aluminum foil (for easy clean up) and put the chicken on that to finish cooking
Once they were done I removed the chicken from the skillet and added apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, water, the rest of my seasoning mix and my leftover stuffing and let it thicken a little, making a 'gravy' for the chicken. But this is completely optional, I honestly only did it because I had leftover stuffing that I didn't want to waste!
Hopefully that was easy enough to understand! Let me know if you try it and what you used! @ me on twitter/IG @seauxher, til next time ✌️
Apple Stuffed Chicken
Serves 2
15 minutes to prep
25 minutes to cook
2 boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 medium apple, in cubes
1/2-3/4 C cheddar cheese, shredded
1/3 C each Italian breadcrumbs and Panko breadcrumbs (optional)
1/4 C each apple cider vinegar and water (optional)
1 T brown sugar (optional)
Vegetable oil
Seasoning mix
1 t each of the following: cinnamon, rosemary, brown sugar, garlic powder, onion powder
half a chicken bouillon cube
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a small container combine all seasoning mix ingredients
2. In a bowl mix together apples, cheese and all but one tablespoon of seasoning mix***
3. Trim the fat off the chicken and butterfly them
4. Top each with stuffing and roll and tuck until you can't see any stuffing. Use toothpicks to secure the seam
5. Heat vegetable oil over medium heat. *if using, coat the chicken in the breadcrumb mixture and add to skillet
6. Place chicken, seam side down in the skillet and cook for five minutes on each side***
7. Place chicken in the oven for an additional 10-15 minutes or until the juice runs clear
***Optional steps
2a. On a plate mix breadcrumbs together
6a. Once chicken is cooked, remove from skillet and add apple cider vinegar, water, brown sugar and any leftover stuffing plus the remaining seasoning. Allow to thicken then spoon over chicken breasts
Honey Chicken
So I'm back with another Asian inspired dish, honey chicken! I made this almost the same way I made the sesame chicken recipe I posted not too long ago, except for the coating, which I wanted crunchier like at the chinese restaurants. And as usual, the sauce ingredients can be tweaked to your tastes whether you want it sweeter or more savory
Like my sesame chicken, I used boneless, skinless chicken thighs and for the sauce I kept it simple using only honey with a bit of soy sauce, sesame oil, apple cider vinegar and a dash of red crushed pepper, which is optional, I just like a little spice in everything
So to get started, I trimmed the fat off the chicken and cut it into bite size chunks.
Then for my crunchy coating I did the dry-wet-dry technique using flour, cornstarch and a little Tony's on one plate and a whipped egg on another
In batches, I added the chicken to a skillet and browned both sides
Once my chicken was done, I dumped all the sauce ingredients into a bowl and mixed it up. Then poured it into my skillet and let it boil a few minutes to thicken up
Once it was thick and glazey, I put the chicken back in and tossed it to get all the pieces evenly coated
I paired this with a brown rice and quinoa mix an drizzled excess honey sauce over the rice. I also chopped up a green onion to put on top but that optional. Hopefully that was easy enough and you guys enjoy(ed) it, if you try it I'd love to see/hear about it, find me on twitter & IG @seauxher
Honey Chicken
Serves 2
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes
2 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 egg
1/2 C flour
1/2 C cornstarch
1/3 C honey
2 T soy sauce
1 T apple cider vinegar
1 t sesame oil
1 green onion, optional
Oil for frying
Tonys
Dash of crushed red pepper, optional
Directions
1. Trim fat off chicken thighs then cut into bite size chunks. Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat
2. On a plate stir together flour, cornstarch and Tony's. On a separte plate whisk egg until combined
3. Toss chicken pieces in flour mixture, then dip into egg and finally back into flour mixture before adding to skillet
4. Cook chicken in batches, browning both sides before removing from skillet
5. Add honey, soy sauce, apple cider vinegar, sesame oil and red pepper to a bowl and stir to thoroughly combine
6. Pour honey sauce into skillet and let boil a few minutes to thicken up
7. Add chicken back to skillet and toss to coat
8. Chop green onion and sprinkle over chicken before serving
Orange Chicken
I'm going to blame the lady in the food court handing samples for my latest obsession with chinese food! Nothing else can really explain it, so why not share all my Asian experiments with you!
Chinese dishes are usually very easy and quick to make, which is right up my alley. Not to mention I tend to have a lot of the ingredients I use for my sauces on hand all the time, so that could also be a culprit. But anywho, I think this one is my favorite dish so far, it's so citrusy and delicious and ridiculously easy!!
So without further ado, let's get to it..
As with my other chinese recipes, I used boneless, skinless chicken thighs cut into chunks
For a slightly crunchy coating like the orange chicken in the food court, I dipped the chicken pieces in a cornstarch and egg white mixture
I then fried them in batches for about 5 minutes or so and set them aside to get started on the sauce
I'm pretty lazy so I literally squeezed my orange right into the pan (I'm sure OJ from the store works too) and then dumped everything else in
Then to thicken it up I added a bit of cornstarch mixed with water and let that boil for a minute or two
Once it was nice and sticky, I added my chicken to the pan and tossed to coat all the pieces
And as a last touch, I sprinkled a little more orange zest on top, because I mean...it's orange chicken, it should scream orange! In all, this maybe took 30 minutes, including making my soon to be famous fried rice that I served with it, but you could do steamed rice and broccoli to save on calories.
Orange Chicken
Serves 2
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 20 minutes
3 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 C vegetable oil
2 egg whites
1 T cornstarch
Orange sauce
Juice of one large orange (~1/3-1/2 C)
2 T soy sauce
1 T honey
1 T brown sugar
1 T rice wine vinegar (or white vinegar)
1/2 T cornstarch dissolved in water
2 t crushed red pepper
1 t minced garlic
1 t sesame oil
~1-2 t grated ginger
Zest of orange (save some for topping)
Directions
1. Heat vegetable oil in a pan over med-high heat
2. Cut chicken thighs into bite size chunks
3. In a bowl, whip together 1 T cornstarch and egg whites
4. Dip chicken into egg mixture then fry in batches until all chicken is browned and cooked through. Set aside on paper towel to drain
5. In a pan, add all sauce ingredients, except cornstarch, boil one to two minutes then slowly add cornstarch until thickened
6. Add chicken to sauce and toss to coat
7. Top with additional orange zest